Mass rapes to mass protests: violence against women in 2016

Lucia Perez' photo projected in protest: 16-year-old girl raped and killed in Argentina, in a demonstration against gender violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Leo Correa/Press Association. All rights reserved. From historic convictions
to impunity for gang rapes, 2016 has been a year of highs and lows when it
comes to efforts to stem violence against women.

In March,
the International Criminal Court (ICC) reached its first conviction for sexual violence. It
found a former Democratic
Republic of Congo vice president, Jean-Pierre
Bemba, guilty of rape, murder, and pillage in neighbouring Central
African Republic. Bemba was found guilty under the
concept of “command responsibility,” in which civilian and military superiors
can be held criminally liable for crimes committed by troops under their
control.

In Senegal, a
court convictedHissène
Habré, the former president of Chad, of personally committing rape as an international
crime. In May, decades after his victims started fighting for his prosecution,
Habré was convicted of torture, war crimes, and crimes against humanity,
and sentenced to life in prison.

But despite these
victories, impunity for violence against women remains a massive problem.
Around the world, Human Rights Watch has documented horrific violent attacks on
women, with the attackers facing no punishment.

In Nigeria, government officials and other
authorities raped and sexually exploited women and girls displaced by the
conflict with the armed group Boko Haram. In Jordan, there
was a spike in so-called “honor killings,” murders of women or
girls by relatives for acts supposedly impinging family “honor.” In South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Burundi, armed combatants gang raped women and
girls. In Nepal, child marriage, as well as rape and
physical abuse of child brides, is common.

And in some
countries, reports this year revealed sexual violence that has continued for
years. In the United States, military service members have faced not only sexual
assault, but also retaliation if they reported the abuse. In Burma, the military has committed rape and
other sexual violence relating to the country’s decades-long civil wars.
Women raped in Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election violence have
been unable to obtain reparations or justice. The list of horror goes on.

The past year also saw
contrasts in how governments address violence against women in legislation.
Some countries, like Haiti, have no laws specifically criminalizing
domestic violence. Others, like Morocco, are still discussing a draft domestic
violence law. But some countries have strengthened legal protections. China, for example, started implementing its
December 2015 domestic violence law, and Brazil set tougher penalties for
“femicide,” or gender-motivated killings of women and girls.

United Nations agencies
and bodies also produced contrasts over the past year. The World Health
Organization’s governing body adopted a new global plan of action on
health system response to violence. At the same time, UN peacekeepers were
accused of rape and sexual exploitation in Central African Republic and other
countries. A scathing independent report cited UN failures in
handling peacekeeper abuse.

Then, there are the
contrasts in elected officials, and what this means for violence against women.
There are contrasts across the globe, but you could hardly see a starker
contrast than in North America. In Canada, the government of Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau, a proud feminist, lifted
a prohibition on the use of foreign aid for abortion services, clearing
a path for rape victims and others to receive comprehensive reproductive health
services. Canada also began a national inquiry this year into violence against
indigenous women and girls.

At the same time, US
President-elect Donald Trump has publicly bragged about sexual assault and
dismissed this as “locker room talk”. He has been accused by more than a dozen
women of groping or sexual assault, and has expressed his intention to restrict
access to legal abortion and reproductive health services, which would pose
grave risks for all women.

Plenty of people around
the world are fed up with violence against women, fed up with the lack of
accountability for abusers, and fed up with politicians and others who
normalize abuse or fail to combat it. They’re taking brave actions to keep
shelters open, push for better protections, help survivors heal, and help bring
abusers to justice.

Many are taking to the
streets. In Argentina, for example, thousands of people
wearing black clothes braved torrential rain in Buenos Aires in October to
protest the rape and killing of a 16-year-old girl.

I hope the 16 Days of
Activism next year will be a time to celebrate more victories, and fewer
failures, in the fight against violence against women.

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